Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism and opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world
People walking past the Qatar Airways branch in the Saudi capital Riyadh, after it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia following a severing of relations between major gulf states and gas-rich Qatar.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism and opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world. Yemen, Libya's eastern-based government and the Maldives joined in later.
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(L to R) Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Saudi King Salman, Prime Minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa. Pics/AFP
Meanwhile, Iran - long at odds with Saudi and a behind-the-scenes target of the move - immediately blamed Donald Trump for setting the stage during his trip to Riyadh. "What is happening is the preliminary result of the sword dance," tweeted Hamid Aboutalebi, deputy chief of staff of President Hassan Rouhani.
Qatar, however, said it was facing a campaign aimed at weakening it, denying it was interfering in the affairs of other countries.
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